No UFC 107 thread? I guess everyone is tied up with their snorting anger over WWE TLC

I don't really have any detailed comments, but

Any fight with Clay Guida in it is fun. This guy is such a gamer. I always thought Kenny would be too good for him in the end but Guida will never die wondering.

Cheick Kongo's momentum ran into a large Frank Mir shaped road block. My reaction was that a better skilled ground fighter may have escaped the guillotine, but he was pretty rocked so maybe not. Best condition I've seen Frank in - 265lbs and cut.

To quote Josh Koscheck, I was hoping BJ would win because Sanchez is so fricken weird. Gotta agree with the call that BJ basically just carved him up with Sanchez's hard head saving him. Normally no-one likes doctor's stoppages but I was glad they did in this case. If that cut was any bigger, Diego's scalp would have been flapping up and down. Justice that it didn't go to decision because I felt that may have hidden how much Diego was pwned. The scoring may have been interesting though. I figured something in the 50-42/43 range, but who knows?

No surprises with this card, except for the continued development of Frank Mir's boxing skills and physique. He slipped right through Kongo's defense and setup that guillotine very quickly. Picture perfect performance. Alot of people don't like the guy (from the TUF show, which I've never watched), but I really admire his determination to get better at all aspects of the fight game at this point in his career.

Clay Guida is still the most fun fighter out there and just watching him come down the cage is more entertaining to most other fights.

Lloyd: When I met Mary, I got that old fashioned romantic feeling, where I'd do anything to bone her.Harry: That's a special feeling.

Clay Guida is awesome in his own right, but if the last few fights of his have proven anything, it's that his own right isn't enough to take him to the top tier. His striking is still really rudimentary and his grappling doesn't extend much past "I will take you down; I have taken you down; if you get up, I will take you down again." I like him, don't get me wrong, but there's a clear line dividing the top tier of competition at 155 from the rest, and he is very, very much on the bad side of that line.

And on the other side of that line, good god, BJ Penn is a monster. I was one of the naysayers who disliked him for his lack of effort and motivation, and he has definitely proved that he's changed his ways. It's hard to fathom who at 155 in the entire bloody world can take him, at this point--he has the best boxing in the division, his cardio appears to be pretty great, and you know his ground game. It seems like the only hope anyone has is to be bigger and more of a bully, and even then you have to do it while not getting hit. If BJ takes out Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, he'll have pretty much cleaned out the division's contenders--and frankly, it's pretty likely. I'd wager we'll see BJ take out Edgar and Maynard, and then get matched up at 170 against folks like Kos, Fitch and Alves.

Kongo...oh, Kongo. Wulfslair needs to take Joe Rogan's advice and lock Kongo in a room with three months' worth of food and water and a team made up of a wrestling coach, a BJJ coach, and a mental conditioning coach. He has this think about freaking out and doing stuff that makes no sense, and this fight exhibited it too--he approached Mir showing no respect whatsoever for his striking, arms out like a scarecrow, and when he got knocked to the floor, rather than scrambling to his feet, or pulling guard, he tried to kick Mir in the head while laying on the ground. It put him in a completely indefensible position that rightfully got him instantaneously choked out. Kongo's one of the most physically gifted dudes in the sport and his striking is crisp, accurate and powerful--if he rounded out his game, he could be amazing.

In further random thoughts--Fitch is great, but I don't know what he could hope to do against GSP that he didn't already try in their last fight, and Struve is another of those "all the physical tools, none of the mindset" cases. Heavyweights need fight couneslors.

Originally posted by Big GNo UFC 107 thread? I guess everyone is tied up with their snorting anger over WWE TLC

Hey now. I was simply much too lazy

Cheick Kongo's momentum ran into a large Frank Mir shaped road block.

He had momentum? I don't think I know any more or less about Frank Mir after that fight. His cardio with the extra weight wasn't tested and I'm still not sure I like his chances of taking down the bigger guys with wrestling skills in the HW division. He certainly took care of business though.

Clay Guida has zero chance of being a top teir fighter, but I don't think this makes him any less awesome. I'd pay to watch him every damn week if I could. Him winning the odd one would merely be a bonus. Thankfully I think he has enough of a fan base that he shouldn't have to worry about the UFC cutting him any time soon.

Awesome for more traditional reasons is BJ Penn. I don't see anyone at 155 (in the UFC or otherwise) who stands much of a chance against him.

According to this page, there has never been a Nextel/WC champion with an average finish that was 2 or 3 spots lower than anyone in contention (they've got the Avg. Start and Finish swapped for 2003, so Kenseth looks like he won with a finish avg of 21.3)...